


Cirque des Freaks

by HanaTheMighty



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Circus, Angst with a Happy Ending, Aquariums, Freakshows, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rehabilitation, Starvation, Torture, Whipping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 04:15:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18045272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HanaTheMighty/pseuds/HanaTheMighty
Summary: To think that there was a time when he loved to perform. Where seeing the nameLeigh Daniel Avidanplastered on signs, printed on sheets at ticket booths and in glorious nightlife neon in downtown clubs within his old town, made him feel alive. To think that he was once happy with the way things were. No- to think that he wantedmore.





	1. First.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [my fans who stayed after all this time](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=my+fans+who+stayed+after+all+this+time).



“Wake up, you pathetic piece of shit. It’s twenty minutes to showtime. I never said you could sleep.”

 

The mermaid opened his eyes slowly, making eye contact with the ringmaster who stood only inches in front of him. Her eyes were narrowed in annoyance, arms crossed over her chest, eyebrows furrowed together to paint her expression to be the intimidating one he was all too used to.

 

“I-I’m sorry,” the mermaid stammered, quickly adjusting himself in his tank to where he looked fully alert. “I didn’t mean too, Miss. It was an accident. I swear.”

 

“I don’t give a rat’s ass, Avidan,” she shot back. “You sleep when I tell you to sleep. You do  _ not  _ just nap when you feel like it. Pull a little stunt like this again, and you’ll be getting acquainted with your old friend here.” She pressed a hand to her belt, gesturing to a small holster that had originally belonged to a gun. Now, the only thing that seemed to take up that space was her leather whip, constantly within her reach. “Is that understood?” 

 

The mermaid hung his head, avoiding eye contact with the ringmaster at all costs. The malice in her voice had woken him up entirely; after all, no one could be tired when your worst nightmare had followed you into reality.

 

“Yes, ma’am. It won’t happen again.”

 

The ringmaster hummed, pleased, and snapped her fingers loudly before turning on her heel to exit his room. On the far side of the tent walls, if you wished to call them that, a timer began to tick down.

 

Twenty minutes to showtime.

 

He sighed, rubbing his hands down his arms anxiously. To think that there was a time when he loved to perform. Where seeing the name  _ Leigh Daniel Avidan _ plastered on signs, printed on sheets at ticket booths and in glorious nightlife neon in downtown clubs within his old town, made him feel alive. To think that he was once happy with the way things were. No- to think that he wanted  _ more _ .

 

That all seemed so far away now. August 15th, 2013. The last time that Dan had ever seen his name on those signs.

 

To think that he had been happy only five years ago.

 

What happened? What sins had he committed to be ripped from his home, thrown into a container on a ship that could hardly hold him and be placed into a world of false smiles and a sheer lack of confidence?

 

He wished he knew. More than anything, he wished he knew.

 

But he worked here now.  _ The Crudelis Family’s Cirque des Freaks: an Honorable Showcase for Honorable Wonders. _

 

Hah. Honorable- such bullshit.

 

He ran a hand through his hair, bringing his curls to life. They coiled around his fingers in the freezing water, snake-like, projecting onto him a look of consistent youth. He stretched himself out to the best of his ability, flicking his tail and fluttering the fins behind his ears to keep his body from tensing up in the near-freezing water. The last thing he wanted was to ruin tonight’s performance. It was his four year anniversary, for God’s sake. He had been promised to be rewarded if his performance was satisfactory. There was no way in hell he would put that on the line.

 

The curtains shuffled behind him, and the mermaid turned around immediately, frightened by the noise. The intruder, merely another one of the performers, raised her hands innocuously.

 

“It’s just me,” she assured. “It’s just Donovan. Miss Crudelis told me to help load you into your transfer tank.”

 

Slightly embarrassed, the mermaid nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’m sorry for, uh…”

 

Sarah shook her head, one of her hands mirroring her movements. “No, no. It’s okay. Don’t even worry about it. You’re fine, Avidan.”

 

He smiled at her, and she smiled back. The small white tail behind her flickered into view as she began to move about his room.

 

Sarah Donovan was one of the only people Dan considerably trusted. Of course, not with his life- she had been cruel to him many a time, as everyone else had- but she was at least kind when she needed to be. She was the youngest of all twenty-one performers, at just 17. She was perhaps the fifth faun to be presented as a performer- however, she was an incredible acrobat, making her a notable performer. She had been the star, in fact, before he had arrived at the show and replaced her in that title.

 

The mermaid hadn’t even intended to become as popular as he did. He just simply performed what he could, exaggerating the abilities he’d always had; before he knew it, he was given 25-30 minute performances and the largest performing tank. Of course, his treatment backstage as a crowd favorite was less than desirable, but he figured it was a fair trade. In all honesty, he felt as though he deserved it, with all things considered. He  _ deserved _ for his show mates to make him beaten and whipped, starved, even strangled, if it meant his treatment was better in the public eye. That was just how he saw it.

 

Sarah pushed over the loading tank, the keys in her hand clanking loudly against the glass as she moved. She lined it up with the mermaid’s tank and began to fill it with water, calculating the proper temperatures.

 

“You know,” she started, “I heard that there’s a pretty popular reporter here tonight. Someone from the LA Times.”

 

The mermaid cocked his head. “Really? Here?”

 

Sarah nodded. “I overheard a few of the security men talking to him while I was practicing. Something about his coworker convincing him to come here.”

 

“That’s interesting,” Dan commented, though he hadn’t a single ounce of sincerity behind it.

 

“But you know the most interesting part, Avidan?”

 

“What?”

 

“He only came here for you.”

 

The mermaid raised his eyebrows, stunned. “M-me? Why? I’m not…”

 

The faun chuckled, shrugging her shoulders and adjusting the temperature on the hose. “Apparently his workplace has some sort of mermaid thing that they do. Not with actual mermaids, though. His coworker wanted him to just like… I don’t know, see how you perform, I guess. Get some inspiration from you. Pretty cool, huh?”

 

Dan sighed. “I don’t think so. I’m a terrible performer, so I’m not exactly a… a role model to go off of.”

 

Sarah scoffed, rolling her eyes with a smile. She began twisting the tap off and fumbling through her keys. “As if. You’re the only reason this place still has business. If it weren’t for you, we’d all be…”

 

She trailed off, her smile fading. She didn’t need to finish her sentence. They both knew what would happen.

 

The faun bent downwards, flicking her tail as she put a key into the lock on the bottom of the tank. It clicked, releasing the mermaid from one of his restraints that clasped around his waist. It clattered to the floor of the tank, and he moved his hips in a circular motion to help stretch his tense muscles out. From there, she took to the ladder beside his tank and went to unlock his collar- a metal brace, clasped fairly tightly around his neck. A chain connected it to the metal to keep him from escaping on his own.

 

“I overheard what happened in here,” Sarah mentioned quietly. “She didn’t hurt you, did she..?”

 

The mermaid sighed, slightly relieved. “No, but she gave me a warning.”

 

“Hey, that’s good.”

 

“She probably only did it because we have an audience,” he reasoned. “They’d hear me. Not to mention, I can’t perform after getting the shit beaten out of me.”

 

The faun furrowed her eyebrows and took the lock in her hands. “Well, it’s better than nothing,” she decided. “You got out of ten lashings. I’d say that’s pretty damn good, dude.”

 

“I’d say so, too.”

 

The lock on the collar clicked, and Sarah carefully opened the latches. The mermaid removed the restraint from his neck and stretched out his head, groaning softly as the tightened muscles finally released their tension.

 

“Can you get into the tank on your own, Avidan?”

 

“I can try,” he responded, looking at the reasonable gap between the tanks. “I’d have to jump into it, but I can try to make it.”

 

Sarah shook her head, stomping the metal below her subconsciously. “I can just push the tank closer, man. It’s okay.”

 

“No, Donovan--”

 

“Just let me make it easier for you,” she argued, getting down from the ladder and walking over to the tank. She wheeled it as close as she could to the mermaid’s holding tank, unable to help but notice how much larger the transfer tank was from his usual resting place. Eager to get into a bigger space, Dan climbed over the metal edges and dove into the transfer tank.

 

“Oh, my God,” he hummed, immediately sinking to the bottom. He was smiling widely as he closed his eyes in relaxation, his curls falling around him and drenching him with a stunning caramel aura. “It’s so warm.”

 

“The show tank is warmer, of course,” the faun informed him, “but this one is just to make sure you don’t go into shock, considering how cold your tank is and how warm the show pool is. Last thing we want is you getting sick on us.”

 

The mermaid nodded, hardly caring. “It feels so nice in here. I-I just… I’m just so cold, and this feels so nice.”

 

“I know.”

 

Sarah looked over at the timer, reading the numbers as they slowly ticked downward. 

 

“Fifteen minutes to showtime,” she commented. “Do you need to practice or anything?”

 

The mermaid took a moment to think about it. “I think I’ll be okay,” he replied. “I’ll just, uh… I think I’ll be okay.”

 

The faun smiled sympathetically. “Good luck out there tonight, Avidan. Make all of us proud.”

 

He nodded, and watched as Sarah left his room, leaving him alone.

 

He was used to the silence, the isolation. He was used to it all.

 

He just couldn’t stop thinking about the reporter.

 

Why would anyone want to come here? To him, it seemed so confusing. It was Hell on Earth, the true culmination of immoral treatment and terror. There was nothing good about this place. Not for him.

 

Dan supposed, to an outsider, the circus would look intriguing. People always look for an outlet in which they can funnel their aggressive energies; a self-proclaimed “freakshow” circus was attractive in that regard. They could insult the performers, cheer when they get injured or encourage them to do increasingly dangerous tasks, without fear of any personal consequences. Because for them, at the end of the day, there was no harm done to them or anyone they knew.

 

But backstage, that was a different story. The audience didn’t know about the lashings, the beatings, the fighting, the starving, the screaming, the crying, the nightmares, the blood and death and gore. The audience didn’t know about the scars each performer carried. 

 

They didn’t know. 

 

 _No_ _one_ knew.

 

Eventually, the time had come for the show to begin. Miss Crudelis entered the mermaid’s room with a terrifying smirk on her face, a glint in her eye that showed no mercy and sheer malice and excitement.

 

“Are you ready for your show tonight?” she asked him, almost condescendingly. Just the sound of her voice caused the mermaid to shrink in on himself.

 

“Yes, ma’am,” he whispered, finding the air knocked out of him by the look in her eyes. Ms. Crudelis smiled wider, speaking through her teeth now.

 

“I  _ said _ , are you ready for your show tonight, you unlovable piece of shit?”

 

“Y-yes, ma’am,” Dan responded louder.

 

“Good. Now, tell me what you are.”

 

The mermaid cleared his throat anxiously, tugging on his fingers to avoid showing how much he was trembling. “I-I’m a pathetic bitch that no one loves, and I am only deemed worthy when I perform in a way that satisfies our audiences.”

 

“Good. What else?”

 

“A-any disappointment shall earn me ten lashings, and… any back talk will earn three more.”

 

“ _ Very _ good,” the ringmaster cooed. The tone in her voice sent shivers down his spine. “Now, come on. It’s time for our show to begin.”

 

Dan closed his eyes to take deep breaths, focusing on keeping himself calm and collected. He tried to ignore the excited roaring of the crowds, growing ever louder as they approached the stage. He tried to ignore the sudden grip on his shoulders, forcefully ripping him from the tank and tossing him carelessly into the performance pool. He tried to ignore the voice of the ringmaster announcing their shows, and tried to ignore the fact that his performance was drawing ever closer, closer, until it was right upon him.

 

Just take deep breaths.

 

Smile. Don’t let anyone know what’s happening.

 

Take a seat on the swing. Look graceful.

 

Hide your scars at all costs. Don’t let anyone see.

 

Smile. Don’t let those tears fall.

 

Smile. Don’t let them know you’re hurting.

 

Smile.

  
Smile.

 

Smile.

 

And by the time the curtain covering the mermaid’s tank dropped, the smile on his face could flawlessly pass as genuine.


	2. Second.

In the moment the curtain dropped, Arin found himself completely infatuated by the sights in front of him. A mermaid, alone in a tank twenty times his size, rested delicately in the center of the pool on a swing of ivory and ribbon. The ribbons, white and evergreen in hue, twirled gently around the ropes holding the swing together. The mermaid’s blue and violet scales glimmered under the overhead lights; he shone, his complexion twinkling like stars, as though he was covered in sheets of sequins and glitter. His hair looked unaffected by his surroundings. It flowed gracefully around him, long, beautiful curls, in messy ringlets of dirtied gold and almond.

 

Slowly, with movements of porcelain and fragile innocence, the mermaid slipped from the swing and moved delicately to the bottom of the pool. The entire audience watched, fascinated, as he descended weightlessly to the marbled flooring of the pool. The crowd watched as his chest pressed almost unnoticeably against the bottom before he pushed himself upwards, lightly thrusting his hips to create a wave of motion that moved through his body. And, God, the way he moved was enrapturing. His hips moved gracefully with his body, pushing him upwards; the shimmering cartilage at the end of his tail would seem to enhance how spectacularly he moved. His arms remained by his side the entire time, not once assisting in his motions.

 

With not a hint of hesitation, the mermaid rose out of the water and slipped onto the glass platform in the center of the pool. He threw his hair back, allowing it to rid itself of the overbearing water that had culminated within his curls. Blinding strokes of blue, violet, teal pressed their reflections against the dark inner curtains of the tent. From there, once he had lessened his weight, the mermaid pushed himself onto his hands. He held himself above the surface, lightly swinging back and forth by the sheer power of his own body weight, before throwing himself upwards into the air and twirling. The crowd watched in amazement as he flipped one, two, three times before collapsing into the water and leaving in his wake a spiral of uprisen water. The fountain splashed the rows closest him, most of the people laughing in excitement and surprise as they were soaked with the warm sea water. Arin couldn’t help but join them as he was splashed by the residual waves, wiping his face off and staring back in amazement. The show continued in this fashion for a prolonged period of time. The mermaid would display his grace, his agility, and the crowd would awe over his capabilities.

 

Subtly, the lights within the tent dimmed. The crowds began to roar with anticipation; however, Arin couldn’t help but notice the lurking violence within their tone. It was a collective threat that he couldn’t help but fear. Even the mermaid, in the pool that had almost no light within it, seemed to flinch away from the crowds.

 

A light popped on, revealing the ringmaster on a platform above the pool. The crowds began cheering, thrusting their fists into the air and standing in adoration. In her dashing suit of red and black, she beamed out at her audience, raising her whip and cracking it in the air. Each snap it made caused the crowd to grow louder. She looked down at the pool below her and lowered her whip, cracking it once sharply. Almost immediately, the mermaid was underneath her platform, hiding his face from her by way of his mane of hair.

 

“Welcome to the Crudelis Family’s Cirque des Freaks,” she boomed. Her voice in the microphone was overpowering, mildly threatening. Taking the sudden silence as his chance, Arin immediately wrote down the details of the show so far while it was fresh on his mind.

 

“It is my pleasure tonight to present our 1,810th show with our main attraction: our horrific freak of a mermaid, Leigh Daniel Avidan.”

 

The crowd boomed. Arin glanced at the mermaid, just to see his response, and noticed that his shoulders were slightly trembling.

 

Was he… crying?

 

The ringmaster cracked her whip once more, effectively silencing the crowd. The mermaid wiped his eyes with his arm, almost too swiftly to be seen, and returned to his original position.

 

“I am your host tonight,” the ringmaster informed. “I have been in charge of the Crudelis Family’s Cirque des Freaks for ten of our fifty-two years in running, and am proud to be in charge of your show tonight.

 

“My name Kalypso Crudelis. Below me is our infamous disaster, Daniel.”

 

The crowd grew louder again. This time, Arin could hear cheering, booing, angry screaming and hurtful jeers. He took note of it hesitantly.

 

“As I stated, it is his 1,810th show with us. For those of you new to our performances- any even day in which he performs has a run time of 30 minutes. Odd days last for 25. He will perform what I say, when I say it, no hesitations. If his performance is unsatisfactory, he will be  _ punished  _ at the end of the show. If it is satisfactory, he will be  _ rewarded _ .”

 

Miss Crudelis gazed downward, his brows furrowing as she took notice of Dan hiding his face from her. She cracked her whip and chuckled when he jumped at the sound, making eye contact with her.

 

“Do you hear that, Avidan?” she asked, almost mockingly. “If you satisfy our audience, you get rewarded. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

 

Arin gazed down at Dan’s desperate expression. He nodded, bringing his tail above the water and gently bringing it back down, almost unconsciously.

 

Miss Crudelis smiled, a threatening glint in her eye. “Well,” she began, “then you must prove to our audience that you are worth the reward.”

 

She gestured to the crowd. “Everyone? So far, what do you think of Daniel’s show? Is he worth it?”

 

The reactions poured in immediately. Screams that Arin, frankly, wasn’t expecting. 

 

_ He’s worthless. Disgusting. A stupid freak. Punish him. Pathetic. _

 

Miss Crudelis snapped her whip once more. “Daniel, what do you say? Are you willing to give it all of the energy in your pathetic little body to change their minds?”

 

Dan nodded. She gestured him underwater, and began some spiel that Arin wasn’t really listening to.

 

No; instead, he was focusing on Dan. In one of the small glances he had taken towards the mermaid, Arin couldn’t help but notice how unhealthy he looked. He had, at first, blamed it on the darkness in which he was resting; however, even when the spotlights came up on his glamorous physique, he still looked unhealthy. There were bags under his eyes, shadowing his expressions of unwavering optimism. His ribs were protruding from his chest enough that Arin could see the space between each, yet he wasn’t thin enough to be only skin and bone. When he turned his back, there were hypertrophic scars of any imaginable phase that seemed to cover its entirety.

 

Arin wasn’t sure how much time had passed between when he began staring at the mermaid’s appearance, and the moment where Arin’s chest grew suffocatingly tight. One moment, Arin was staring at a mermaid that was preparing to swim upwards to the top of the tank- the next, he was staring at a mermaid that had two slipping hands on two metal rings, holding him what was easily twenty or more feet above ground.

 

The mermaid looked terrified. So, incredibly terrified. His face was tense, his arms were trembling, blood was obviously rushing to his face as he held himself upside down from the rings. Each flash from cameras only made him shrink further inward on himself, each jeer and taunt from the crowd only made the ringmaster grow louder. Arin was amazed at how quickly the man’s confidence had vanished.

 

There was another flash from a camera, and the mermaid slipped off of the rings.

 

There were less shouts of concern than there were shouts of rage. Within seconds, the mermaid’s back had slammed against the glass surface of the pool, causing the glass to audibly crack. He groaned loudly, his face clenching up from the pain. Then, weakly, he slipped into the water, curling into himself as though he could hide himself from the world if he held himself close enough. A thick, yet wispy trail of blood stained the area that he collapsed through.

 

The crowd jeered, throwing their offending words towards the mermaid as though he were an animal. The ringmaster was practically crawling with malice, screaming at the barely-moving figure to break into an impossible invincibility and continue. To ignore the blood seeping out of his back and continue performing.

 

To both Arin and the audience, it became apparent that he would not finish his performance.

 

“Pathetic,” the ringmaster jeered, gesturing to a group of two standing on a platform across from her. “I guess you really do deserve to be punished. You’re nothing more than a worthless freak.”

 

The individuals Miss Crudelis had beckonded over were clad in vibrant red uniforms, similar to  the ringmaster’s, yet somehow more intimidating. Wordlessly, the two of them tossed a net into the pool over where the mermaid was floating. The weights on the end of the ropes curved it down over Dan’s body, and they swiftly clicked together; they must have been magnetic. The mermaid quickly thrashed under its grip, writhing, trying to escape, but was too weak to completely fight its strength against him. He allowed himself to lay limply within the rope, holding himself as close as he could, his shoulders beginning to tremble. Almost moments later, the net was lifted from the water, displaying the mermaid to the world as though he were captured prey.

 

The audience screamed, flashing their cameras and throwing things towards the tank. The captive man just shrunk into himself, his entire body quaking as though he were weeping. Arin just stared in… disgust? Awe? Surprise? Perhaps all, as the man poked his head out meekly and made eye contact with Arin from the stage.

 

Immediately, Arin shivered. The light glimmered in his eyes and displayed his vulnerability, his terror, his exhaustion. He was close enough to see his face contorting with violent sobs as people continued to harass him from a distance, that didn’t seem too far away anymore. The ringmaster cracked her whip, and the mermaid immediately hid his face again, his sobs only increasing in volume until Arin could hear them from his place on the benches.

 

Arin felt like he’d been surrounded. His stomach churned with nausea, his entire body trembled under his weight. His fight or flight response had kicked in, immediately telling him to run as far from the scene as possible. 

 

This wasn’t right. He should’ve listened to his gut. He shouldn’t have come here.

 

With trembling legs, Arin stood from his seat and hurried down the stairwell. He couldn’t stand to be in this room anymore. He couldn’t stand to be surrounded by people who were cheering for the torture of an innocent man, who were advocating for his agony. He felt like he was witnessing a sacrifice.

 

No. He felt like he was  _ partaking _ .

 

Once he pushed past the layers of suffocating fabric that made up the tent, Arin took a deep breath. The open air was much less suffocating than the absolute hell within those curtains, not to mention that it was much safer. He allowed himself to grip his chest and take deep breaths, almost choking on his nerves.

 

From a little ways away, Arin could hear shuffling movements. He could hear the squeaking of wheels, feet thumping against dirt. He could hear someone scolding another, walking down the hallways of the circus tents to one of the larger tents. Curiosity got the better of him, and Arin followed the voices from a distance. He could hear faintly the shouting of the ringmaster as he walked.

 

“You pathetic piece of shit!” the ringmaster shouted. The wheels ceased their squeaking as they reached the largest tent. There was a moment of silence, almost intimidating. The sound of leather against skin followed thereafter, and after that, a cry of agony.

 

“I’m  _ sorry _ , Miss Crudelis!” a young man’s voice cried out. “I-I’m  _ sorry _ !”

 

“Sorry doesn’t fix a ruined fucking performance, Avidan!” Another sharp snap, another agonized whine. “You’ve told me time after time you’d fix it, and all you do is disappoint me!”

 

“Maybe I wouldn’t fail i-if you didn’t exhaust me so much!” the man’s voice responded, yelling harshly. It cracked with a harsh sob accompanying it. “I can never satisfy them b-because all they want to see is pain!”

 

Immediately, silence fell over the room. Arin crept a bit closer, pushing back the tent curtains once more and hiding behind a wall of boxes to avoid being seen.

 

“What did you just say to me?” the ringmaster snapped. 

 

“I-I didn’t-”

 

“ _ What _ did you just say to me?!”

 

“Miss Crudelis, I-”

 

“Lori, go grab the serrated whip for me.”

 

Arin’s stomach churned. It made him sick, just thinking about what she was planning to do. 

 

“M-Miss Crudelis,  _ please _ , I’m sorry- I-I didn’t mean to-”

 

“It has been four fucking years, Avidan! Four fucking years!”

 

“I-I’m sorry-!”

 

“You should know better than to snap at me! You should have learned by now!”

 

“P-please, I did better today, I-I didn’t stop as soon-”

 

“Stop fucking bribing me, you piece of shit! That’s five fucking lashes!”

 

Arin felt ill. His entire body pulsed with his heartbeat as it pounded in his ears. He sat down with his back against the boxes, knees to his chest, trying desperately to block out the noises surrounding him.

 

He was almost successful, until he heard a mind-numbing scream. The sound of water splattering with an unstoppable force, a vicious shouting of curses and hatred. The young man was sobbing in absolute misery. There was desperate begging, but Arin couldn’t make out the words through the noise.

 

“You should know by now, Avidan,” the ringmaster shouted over the mermaid’s cries, “that this is only encouraging me more. I love seeing people get what they deserve.”

 

“P-please! I promise I won’t talk back!”

 

“I’ll stop with your punishment when this stops being fun for me, Avidan. So get comfortable.”

 

Another deafening scream, worsening in the levels of agony.

 

“ _ Please! Stop! _ I’ll do  _ anything _ !”

 

“Shut your fucking mouth, whore!”

 

Again. And again. And again.

 

Unable to stand it anymore, Arin fled from the tent. He didn’t care how obvious he was, he didn’t care if anyone could see him or if anyone heard him. He had to get out of there. The screams of that poor man were echoing in his ears, banging at his brain, choking Arin’s every move. The sound of him begging for her to stop hurting him before she would strike him again was torturous on Arin’s mind. 

 

His foot banged against something as he fled, and he winced, nearly tumbling. People leaving the show tent shot him confused looks, some people looking to where Arin was fleeing, trying to see what caused his desperate speeds. 

 

Of course, they didn’t know. How would they?

 

Arin leapt into his car and locked the door behind him, his mind silencing as he fell into the leather seat. He sat there for a moment, catching his breath, trying to calm down the noises in his brain, before bursting into tears. Very faintly through Arin’s window, he could still hear the mermaid’s desperate screaming. 

 

He cried harder, knowing that he would likely be the only person there who cared. 


	3. Third.

Seeing the sign on the way into the parking lot the second time around felt that much more sickening. The faded wooden sign, the stylish calligraphy that painted the name of this madhouse for the world to see… it was like a horror story. A movie, where you find out a dark secret, and nothing felt the same anymore.

 

Arin wished he was in a movie. He wished he would look over and see a cameraman cheering him on, or hear someone yell for the scene to cut. He wished he could meet the people in charge and congratulate them on scaring the shit out of him.

 

But it wasn’t a movie. As Arin rolled into the vacant parking lot and gazed out at the moonlit tent, its decorative flags waving in the midnight winds, his body exhausted in the midst of three a.m., he knew it was anything but a movie.

 

The car crept to a stop, parked haphazardly between two spaces that Arin frankly didn’t care to fix. The pool he’d purchased hours prior was in his backseat, and the water within it sloshed over the edge of the inflatable and onto his carpeting. He watched it through his rearview, watching the water slip carefully over the sleek edges. Somehow, the sight of the liquid just made Arin remember the blood from the mermaid’s back as it spiralled into the depths he had already conquered; he grew queasy, quickly throwing open his door and shutting it behind him. He prayed that he was far enough away from the circus tent, and that his car wasn’t heard.

 

He didn’t want to blow this. Not for Dan. Not for another human being, or whatever the hell Dan was.

 

Truth be told, Arin had no plan. He didn’t know what he was going to do. He’d thought over every possible scenario under the sun, and he couldn’t come up with a solution for any of them. He didn’t know what he would do if the ringmaster was there, if Dan was dead, if it was all a ruse. He didn’t have a single plan. It was all bullshit that Arin had assured himself of on the way there in a sheer prayer to whatever deities could be out there to listen. Perhaps, if anything, at least one was listening tonight.

 

He began his trek through the grassy pathway, moving past the rickety metal fences as he looked for anything familiar. The circus looked more threatening during the evening hours; like a new plane of existence, a new dimension, some unknown territory that he wasn’t meant to be crossing. He mentally cursed himself for running so fast to get back to his car while it was still light out. There had to be a bush, a trash can, some sort of stand or peg or  _ anything  _ that he could recognize.

 

Arin saw a hole in the metal fence, and allowed himself to slip through it. He felt the edge of his shirt rip slightly; there was a momentary panic in his mind, debating whether or not it was worth it to remove the fabric or use it as a marker for where he needed to go.

 

Arin decided to take it with him. Just in case.

 

As he walked, Arin realized that not only was the circus unfamiliar in the hours of night to him, but it was larger than he remembered it being. The grass seemed to extend out on the horizon farther than he would logistically assume it to, the pathways winding along with it. The metal creaked with the force of the evening breeze that passed him on each unnecessary step. In the darkness, the red and yellow striped tent- which looked more indigo and green, perhaps, in this lighting- seemed to continue on into foggy endlessness. Hell- it came to the point where Arin debated if he even knew where he was.

 

Then Arin saw it; a plank of wood, peering out from underneath the curtains like a small child at play. He vaguely remembered kicking it on his way out- er, kicking  _ something _ . He only assumed it was the wooden plank now, as he stared at it, because it was a reasonable explanation for the throbbing in his foot after the fact. He moved closer to it, and decided that regardless of whether or not it was indicative of his location, he needed to enter here. It was either go in now, or wander in the darkness for longer than he wished to.

 

Arin pressed his hand around against the curtains, unable to properly see where one fold of fabric stopped and the next began. A lingering bout of anxiety in his mind could picture some monstrosity, some cruel being with glowing eyes and an unhinged jaw, lashing out at him from between the opening and mauling him apart. However, upon opening the curtains, he was pleased to see that this wasn’t the case, though the darkness staring back at him wasn’t any more comforting.

 

He took a deep breath before walking in completely, allowing himself to be shut into the unbearable warmth of the insulated tent. Sweat was already building on the back of his neck, and his skin crawled at the thought that it could perhaps be some creature that hadn’t performed drooling over its new meal. He had to shake the feelings away in order to keep himself focused on the task at hand.

 

Aimless paths of wandering didn’t help his case. He felt, if anything, only more uncomfortable by the looming darkness and sounds of chains rattling, loud moans that were neither human nor animal, the occasional glint of moonlight on rusted metal objects that sat isolated on metal tables. The pit in Arin’s stomach grew larger with each moment he sat in that wretched place. He couldn’t imagine working here, let alone living here; imagining the works going on behind the scenes, and remembering the ear-splitting screams of the mermaid only made him feel worse.

 

At the scent of salt water, Arin froze. He blatantly remembered that scent, above everything else- it was prominent in Dan’s room, and Dan’s room alone. He could practically still taste the salt on his tongue from when he had been in there earlier that day. Arin looked to his right, turning his whole body to face the curtains, gazing up at the sign above it.

 

_ Leigh Daniel Avidan - Star Performer, Kalypso’s Favorite Plaything. _

 

Arin shivered. He needed to get him out of here, if it was the last thing he would ever do.

 

Despite the overwhelming feelings of hesitation, Arin took a deep breath, and pushed his way in.

 

Now, in all honesty, Arin wasn’t sure what he wanted. He expected this dramatic reveal of something like a scientific test tube in a sci-fi movie, or a glass pool hidden in the far back. He expected all of these things when he was hiding behind a wall of boxes, unable to see anything, due to his own cowardice. He just knew for sure that he didn’t want to be able to open the curtains and immediately see what kind of hell these performers were going through.

 

The “tank”, if you could even call it that, was really more of a coffin in terms of dimensions. There was hardly enough room to look to one side, let alone to  _ live in _ for all but half an hour of your every day. The mermaid was naturally floating in the center of the tank, but his large physique and the small space in which he had to sleep made it so that his head was leaning awkwardly out of the water ever so slightly. A heavy, burly, iron collar was atop the mermaid’s shoulders, clasping around his neck and held to the tank by a short line of chains. On the mermaid’s waist was a larger brace, keeping his body chained into the tank so that he had hardly the ability to swim upwards to the top of the pool. The chains on both restraints were rusted, obviously unsafe to be that close to actual flesh for any reason- to imagine lying with that only inches from you at all times, risking you serious infection and disease, was enough to make Arin shiver. 

 

That didn’t even begin to cover just how exhausted the man looked. The bags under his eyes were defined incredibly, his ribs uncomfortably pressing into his chest as he floated within the water in a desperate attempt to find an easy position in which to sleep. A large, yet long-faded scar crossed his chest diagonally from his collarbone to his hip.

 

Arin looked back at the collar clasped around the mermaid’s neck. A lock of exaggerated size and decor, well-rusted, was resting just within view. He didn’t want to take the time to consider that all of the candles lighting the space had been left on, allowing for him to see these little details; no, he was too focused on getting this man out of here. But first, he needed a key.

 

Of course, Dan’s “room” was of an ungodly size. Not like he could really take advantage of that fact. There were tables covered in clutter, tons of rings and ribbons and chains within view no matter where you looked. It became obvious very quickly that this wasn’t going to be easy.

 

Arin carefully made his way over to the first table, beginning to move some of the clutter to look for something to unlock the heavy brace. He flinched at any sound the items made, praying to whatever beings were watching his mission that no one was able to hear them. He pushed away chains thicker than his fingers, rings of sterling silver, beautiful blue ribbons that smelled faintly of the sea. Each thing created thousands of scenarios in Arin’s mind on why it had found itself in the mermaid’s room in the first place.

 

His attention was averted, however, when he heard a sound behind him. 

 

He immediately turned around, ready to face the ringmaster with his bare hands and unadulterated rage. Though, he was met with something perhaps more saddening.

 

The mermaid was looking at Arin with tears in his eyes, weeping softly as he pulled at his restraints in a desperate attempt to get away. Paired with his appearance, it was a pitiful sight. He looked so vulnerable, so broken, so afraid. Establishing eye contact only brought another sob out of the mermaid’s throat.

 

The mermaid’s cry was louder than Arin would’ve preferred, and he ran over towards the tank to try and soothe him before it got out of hand. The mermaid flinched away at his speed and curled up against the back of the tank, whimpering in terror, watching Arin with widened, attentive eyes.

 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Arin started. That was a better place to begin than none, right?

 

The mermaid trembled, tears resembling pearls slipping down his cheeks before dissipating into the surrounding water. “W-who  _ are  _ you?” he asked softly. “Please get away from me,  _ please _ , I-I didn’t…”

 

“No, no, shh. It’s okay.” Arin pressed his hand carefully against the glass. “I promise. I don’t work here, okay? I… I saw your show earlier this evening, and I… I wanted to help you.”

 

“You’re  _ lying _ ,” the mermaid snapped. “Everyone lies to me. You’re just like her and all of the others. You’re  _ liars _ .”

 

“I promise I’m not lying. Okay? This is for your safety, man. I’m risking getting arrested and charged with trespassing because your show today scared the shit out of me.”

 

“S-she said the same thing to me, and look at me now. I-I can’t trust you, please, just- get out of here-”

 

“I’m not leaving. Not without you.”

 

The mermaid looked away, a sob escaping his throat. He held himself close as though his body was the only thing that could protect himself with. Arin just stared at his profile, taking in his sunken features from his undernourishment, pressing his hand against the glass with a bit more force.

 

“I want to protect you,” Arin reiterated. “I don’t want you to hurt anymore. But you have to trust me, okay?”

 

The man sniffled, tears beading down his cheeks. He glanced back at Arin suspiciously. “How do I know I can trust you?” he asked, his voice hardly audible.

 

Arin thought for a moment. He supposed there was a valid point in that they were both strangers to one another- but Arin couldn’t quite think of how to show this man just how much he meant what he was doing. 

 

“I know it won’t matter to you, but I… I have my car in the parking lot with a fucking pool in the backseat. I brought it because you might need it, fuck, I don’t know, and I… I just want to help you.”

 

Finally, the mermaid gave Arin his full attention. His hand slowly crept up to match Arin’s against the glass, hesitantly, delicately.

 

“Okay,” he answered. “I-I… I’ll trust you.”

 

Arin smiled, nodding. “Okay. I promise you, I won’t hurt you, okay? I’m going to do everything I can to keep you safe.”

 

The mermaid smiled sleepily, wiping his eyes with the heel of his hand. And briefly, for just a moment, he wondered if the flaring feeling in the back of his chest was the feeling of security. Maybe he was finally safe. Maybe, just maybe, he couldn’t get hurt anymore.

 

The thought was, however, fleeting, because Kalypso woke up in the room just down the hall.


	4. Fourth.

Arin hadn’t realized how close Ms. Crudelis’ room was to the mermaid’s until he heard her stirring from a room away. It was almost terrifying, thinking that she asserted her dominance in such a way- being so close with him so defenseless. Any wrong move on Arin’s part could potentially cause them a greater deal of trouble than they intended there to be.

 

He turned to gauge the mermaid’s reaction, and it was almost heartbreaking how much he shrunk into himself. His eyes had immediately filled with tears, he was trying to hold himself as close as he could without injuring his incredibly-tender back. It was as though the sheer knowledge of her presence was enough to make him intoxicated with terror.

 

“It’s okay,” Arin mouthed to him. “I’ll protect you, okay?”

 

The mermaid nodded, though unbelieving, and slowly allowed himself to stretch out how he had been before.

 

“Where are the keys?” 

 

The mermaid cocked his head. He opened his mouth as though to mouth something back, but they were both interrupted by the ringmaster screaming from her room.

 

“Robinson! Stop your fucking moving before I come in there and beat your fucking ass! I will  _ annihilate  _ you and anyone else who’s awake at this fucking hour with you! Do you understand me?!”

 

The mermaid practically whimpered, covering his mouth to muffle his sobs. Arin hastily, yet carefully, made his way over to the tank and pressed his hand to the glass again.

 

“I won’t let her hurt you, I won’t. I promise. She won’t hurt you.”

 

“I-I’m scared,” he managed. “I’m so scared.”

 

The bridge of Arin’s nose burned as tears threatened to fall; it was almost gut-wrenching to see the unadulterated terror he expressed around a mere stranger. “I know. I know you’re scared. But I promise, I’m going to be right here the whole time. No one is going to hurt you. We’re going to get out of this together, okay?”

 

The mermaid nodded, wiping his eyes as his shoulders trembled. The chain links on the mermaid’s shoulders trembled with it.

 

“Okay,” Arin restarted. “Where are the keys to your chains?”

 

The mermaid bit his lip, trying to think of where they might be. He didn’t seem to notice that his lips were so chapped that they bled instantly at the touch.

 

“I… I don’t remember,” he whispered. His voice grew distraught. “Oh, God, I don’t remember, I’m so sorry. P-please don’t be mad at me.”

 

“Hey, hey, shh. I’m not mad at you, okay? It’s fine. Everything is fine.”

 

Arin looked over the room once more. He could hear movement in the ringmaster’s room, and footsteps that shuffled in the dirt pathways as she began towards another space. 

 

“Hey, do you, uh… do you think they might be in her room?”

 

He sniffled. “T-they might be, I don’t know. I can’t remember right.”

 

“That’s okay. Since she left her room, I’m going to go check, okay? I promise I’ll be close by. If she comes in, just yell for me. I promise, I’ll protect you.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

Arin ignored how his heart shattered, how pitiful it was to him that a man older than he was thought it necessary to treat him like some sort of higher-up. In all reality, they were equals.

 

“It’s just Arin,” he corrected. “Just call me Arin.”

 

The mermaid nodded. “Yes, s- Arin.”

 

He smiled softly, pitifully, and hurried to the other side of the room to the curtains.

 

Upon slipping underneath them, Arin felt his stomach coil. Nausea hit him like a slap to the face, his knees trembled under his own weight. The air was knocked from his lungs, and he struggled to take in a solid breath.

 

Hanging from pegs on the curtains were knives, whips, swords, axes. Any and all sorts of weapons, most of them bloodstained, on display to her room. A table in the center of her room had a few objects on it, and Arin found himself hesitant to walk towards it. Just looking around at the disgusting things on her walls made him hesitant to approach.

 

He did anyways. His stomach twisted further as the light of Ms. Crudelis’ lamp displayed a serrated whip and a ring of keys with the engraving “Leigh D. Avidan” on each one. Some of them looked more decayed than others, and a pang deep in his chest made him wonder what those keys might have belonged to. A shiver ran down his spine as he took them in his hands, the icy metal almost burning him at the sheer touch.

 

Turning on his heel, Arin ran back to the mermaid’s room. He made sure that the mermaid was aware it was him before approaching the tank, so as to avoid frightening him.

 

“Okay, I got the keys.”

 

The mermaid smiled, pressing close to the tank’s glass to see what the keys looked like. His eyes scanned over the ring of metal in Arin’s hands.

 

“The one with the star on it unlocks my waist brace,” he said finally. Arin looked for the key until his eyes settled on one with the engraving of a small star on the handle.

 

“Where’s the lock for that one?” Arin asked. 

 

“It should be embedded in the bottom of the tank,” he responded. “I don’t know where, because I can’t see it, but… I think it’s on the side you’re on now.”

 

Arin nodded before kneeling down to look for a lock. He pressed his fingers against the metal, trying to ignore the burning cold temperature that met his hands, and tried to see if he could feel the smooth indention where the lock would be.

 

“Found it.”

 

There was a moment of clicking as the key turned, then a final, louder click as the metal wire running up to the mermaid’s brace unlocked it. The mermaid put his hands on both sides of the brace and pulled, opening it completely, and allowed it to tumble to the bottom of the tank with a muted thud. Grinning, the mermaid moved his hips slightly to get used to the feeling of having no restraints there.

 

Down the hall, there was a grotesque roar that sounded as though it were from something between a lion and a human. It made Arin’s skin crawl, hearing something like that and knowing now that it was likely to be something human. Something like Dan; human, being treated like an animal. 

 

Arin shook the thought away, attempting to ignore the agonizing screams and setting down the keys so he could run towards a ladder he had seen earlier that evening. As his hands clasped around the sides, he could feel a rusted portion of the metal dig into his palms; he bit down on his tongue to avoid crying out at the pain. He couldn’t risk this, he couldn’t risk getting an innocent young man beaten or even killed for something that would only require a tetanus shot, at most.

 

Carefully, so as to make as little noise as possible, Arin picked the ladder up and walked back towards the tank. The mermaid watched with intrigue at Arin’s movements.

 

“Y-you’re bleeding,” he commented, pointing to the cut on Arin’s hand.

 

Arin glanced down at the small cut, beginning to bead with blood. “Nothing a band-aid can’t fix,” he responded. “It’ll be okay.”

 

“I’m sorry, you… you shouldn’t have to get hurt because of me.”

 

Arin set the ladder down, making sure it was into the ground as firmly as possible. He pressed his shoe onto the first step to press it down into the dirt.

 

“It’s okay, man. Just don’t worry about it. It doesn’t even hurt.”

 

The mermaid raised an eyebrow, hesitant. “Are you sure?”

 

“Absolutely, man. Don’t even sweat it.”

 

Before the mermaid could respond, Arin was climbing up the ladder, keys in hand. Dan swam up alongside him, meeting him at the top of the tank. His head poked out of the water slightly, revealing glowing brown eyes and a mess of lively curls. 

 

“Do you want to get the collar off?” Arin asked.

 

The mermaid shook his head. “I-I, uh… I got hurt, on my shoulders. I can’t really move my arms too much.”

 

Arin nodded. “That’s okay. Just move the lock towards me, okay?”

 

Within a few moments, Arin had the lock in his hands and was turning the key. It clicked harshly, and a bit too loudly, before opening.

 

Then, there was an alarm. A deafening, droning alarm.

 

Dan immediately flinched, throwing himself to the bottom of his tank and covering his head. Arin looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. However, when he looked down at the collar, he could see a blinking black light inside of the metal brace.

 

A motion-pressure sensor.

 

“Avidan!” the ringmaster shouted from down the hall. She seemed suddenly closer now, as though she had started running. “What in the everloving fuck are you doing in there?!”

 

Arin looked at the mermaid, desperation in his eyes. “Come on,” he begged. “Come up here. I’ll carry you.”

 

The mermaid shook his head, starting to sob. “S-she’s going to kill me,” he answered. “She’ll kill y-you, and she’ll kill  _ me _ .”

 

“Not if you come up here,” Arin answered back.

 

The ringmaster started yelling again, much closer now. “Don’t you ever learn your lesson?! Did that whipping mean nothing to you?!” She snapped her whip, dragging a sob from the mermaid as he tried to muster the trust to go towards Arin. “How about when I get to you, I get your input on a new fucking dress?! Would you like that, Avidan?! I’m thinking it sounds like a fantastic fucking idea! Might as well kill you now since you’re such a fucking disgrace to my company! I will skin you alive!”

 

“Come on,” Arin urged. “Just come on. You have to trust me. I won’t hurt you.”

 

“I can’t,” Dan broke in, “I-I can’t-”

 

The ringmaster snapped her whip again. She was so much closer now.

 

“Come on! Just come up here!”

 

“Arin-”

 

The footsteps hastened. He could practically hear the ringmaster snarling.

 

“Now!”

 

The mermaid took a deep breath, pushing himself as far against the bottom of the tank as he could before forcing himself upwards. He shot up with incredible speed, elegant and beautiful even in panic. Arin reached out his arms and caught the mermaid on his descent, pulling him close to his chest.

 

Dan wrapped his arms immediately around Arin, clinging to him as tight as he could with such a weak body. His body temperature was dangerously cold against Arin’s warm skin. Dan sobbed harshly into Arin’s shoulder, struggling to transfer his breathing from his gills to his lungs through his tears.

 

“I’ve got you,” Arin soothed, quickly jumping from the ladder. A sharp pain shot through his heel, but he ignored it, and immediately took to running. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. Just breathe.”

 

As they slid through the curtains and into the moonlit night, Arin refused to look back. He refused to stop running. He refused to let his grip loosen on Dan.

 

He refused to even give this woman the benefit of knowing how much she terrified him.

 

He refused to come back to this dreadful fucking place.

 

He refused to let Dan think he was unsafe.

 

He refused. He refused. He refused.

 

He refused to stop running, until his car came into sight. Arin immediately ran with all of his force towards it, hardly stopping to get his back door open.

 

“I’m going to put you down in here, okay?” Arin notified. He could feel Dan nod against his collarbone. As gently as he could, he slipped Dan into the door so he could situate himself in the kiddie pool.

 

Once Dan was in, he shut the door and opened the driver’s door. He practically moved at inhuman speeds, not stopping until everything was secure.

 

Turn the key. Roll up the windows. Lock the doors. Lock the windows. Move the handle into “D” and hightail the fuck out of there.

 

And for the first time in Arin’s life, he could feel himself overtaken with joy at the sight of someone chasing after his car, only to be left in the dust.


	5. Fifth.

Arin felt his whole body relax as he finally managed to run his car off of the beaten path and onto the long, winding highway that would lead him back to Glendale. The tension he held in his shoulders, his throat, seemed to melt into the warmth of his car; the sickly-sweet scent of Vanillaroma taking away that of salt and blood and sweat. 

  
  
He looked into his mirror, and gazed at the mermaid in the backseat. He was shaking, sobbing hysterically into his hands as he sat in the shallows of the mini-pool. Arin sighed, feeling guilt for not being able to comfort him right now. 

  
  
“Hey,” Arin tries. “It’s okay. You’re safe now, I promise...”

  
  
Dan sniffles, wiping his eyes. “I-I know... that’s why I-I’m crying.”

  
  
Dan’s face broke, a small, relieved smile forming on his cheeks. Arin immediately smiled, too, chuckling just a little bit. 

  
  
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re safe now.”

  
  
The drive continued in silence, at least for a while. Arin would’ve normally turned on the radio, but not much was ever on at this hour; regardless, he didn’t know if Dan would favor the silence over the gentle, static rumbling of mid-morning classic rock. So, he opted to keep the silence, at least until either he or Dan has the courage to speak up again. 

  
  
“Are you hungry?” Arin found himself asking, perhaps halfway home. He wasn’t sure if it was instinct or autopilot, but regardless, it startled his companion awake with a gasp and a subsequent splash. 

  
  
“Shit— I-I’m sorry—“

  
  
“No, no. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were asleep.”

  
  
Arin peeked into the mirror, and watched Dan rub his eyes, sitting up straight in the kiddie pool. He yawned softly, stretching his arms; his face twisted into a smile at actually having the ability to stretch himself out. 

  
  
“Uh... are you hungry at all?” Arin asked again, feeling his own self grow a bit peckish from being up so early. Dan hummed in response. 

  
  
“Yes. Quite, if I’m being honest.”   


  
Arin nodded, and they approached the next intersection, with a McDonald’s, a Wendy’s, a gas station. The few other chains nearby were closed, to reopen in about five or six hours, but he knew neither of them could wait that long. 

  
  
“Do you have a preference?” Arin asks, already flicking his turn signal to go to Wendy’s, having a gut feeling that Dan is likely too hungry to care. His instinct proved correct, as it recently had been. 

  
  
“No, I don’t think so. I’m just starving.”

  
  
“D’you eat meat?”

  
“I honestly couldn’t tell you. I’ll eat anything at this point.”

  
  
Arin pulled into the drive-thru and ordered, getting Dan a large water to keep him hydrated. Part of Arin wished that Wendy’s would give him a stiff drink to compensate for his long night, but he knew for multitudes of reasons that he would just have to pour himself one when he got home, if he still felt need for it. 

  
  
As soon as their orders were handed to them, Arin pulled into the parking lot and they ate. They both ate rather ravenously, neither of them breaking the silence to speak or laugh or cry at all. They were hungry, they needed something to keep them both going until Arin could get home and find his next course of action. 

  
  
The more Arin thought about it, the more Arin realized he hit his dead end. Sure, he had saved Dan- but there were dozens of other performers, perhaps just like him, that were stuck at the venue that Arin couldn’t help. Not with his one-bedroom apartment, his lack of resources. Plus, there was the tacked-on issue of figuring out what to do with Ms. Crudelis, whether or not Arin can rightfully sue her and how a mermaid will play into the legal system. He honestly didn’t know Dan was a real, genuine mermaid until tonight. It’s undocumented. It’s... incredible. 

  
  
Arin is pushed out of his thoughts when he feels a cold hand on his arm. Arin looks up, dropping the fry in his hand as he turns to look at Dan. 

  
  
“I, uh... I just wanted to say thank you.”

  
  
Dan smiled, a soft, broken smile that shone with genuine gratitude and complete exhaustion. Arin smiled back to him. 

  
“No problem, man. I knew you deserved to be treated better than that shit.”

  
  
Dan nodded, and moved back, relaxing in the pool and setting the bag of trash on the floorboard. Arin put the car into “drive”, and left the parking lot, glad to finally be taking the road that would lead him back home.


	6. Sixth.

The drive home, once he had eaten, proved to be a lot easier. The roads were clear, nearly empty, as dawn crept ever-closer; only early-morning workers were out this early, and even then, no one else took these remote roads but those who knew how to use them.

Arin was able to get to his house without much of a fuss at all. He flipped the ignition off, and sat there for a moment, forcing himself to relax in his seat.

He can’t believe he did this. He can’t believe he broke in- well, is it breaking in if it’s into a tent?- to a circus, freed a mermaid, and broke probably seven traffic laws before heading home.

It was an eventful day. He’s exhausted, despite having work in…

Fuck. Five hours.

That’s not nearly enough time to sleep; he could shower, brush his teeth, take a nap- but that’s really it. Nothing else. Not enough time for any actual rest.

What the hell did he get himself into?

Deciding not to think too hard about it, he fumbled around in the passenger’s seat and the small pocket under the dashboard to make sure he hadn’t stored something around. He found a couple of things- a note to himself (“refill medicine, 8:50; get milk”), his phone, a scribbled note of where the circus even was to begin with. His wallet, with his ID and a few coupons thrown about while he was ordering McDonald’s earlier. He hadn’t brought a lot with him, thankfully.

It slowly donned on him. He had a kiddie pool in the backseat of his car.

A fucking kiddie pool. With a full-grown man in it. How the hell will he explain this to his neighbors in the morning?

From the backseat, as though even thinking of him brought him to attention, Dan stirred. He blinked, and looked up at Arin, wiping his eyes.

“Mm… where are we..?”

“Home sweet home,” Arin answers, gesturing to the house out the windshield. “I gotta pull the pool out the side door, and then pull it upstairs, which’ll be a hazard. But if I try to put it in the elevator, I’m making a fire hazard, so I think the extra cardio will do good for me.”

Dan nods, not entirely sure what Arin’s talking about. After all, his experience with the human world has been… scarce, if not completely missing from his life. He’s only seen Kalypso up close.

And now Arin. Arin was so much nicer to see than… her.

Arin hopped out the door, unintentionally slamming it. He could see Dan jump inside the car, and that immediately reminded him to be more gentle about that; a selfish part of him pitied his floorboards, which would probably be moldy and gross, if not at least smelly from water being stored underneath the floor liners.

He brushed the thought away, walking to the door that the pool faced, and opened it. Arin sighed. “Sorry about that, man. I… forgot.”

“Y-you’re good, I promise,” Dan assured loosely, hating to admit how much that startled him. “Do you need help getting this thing out?”

“I…” Arin began, but he stopped short. He would’ve asked Dan to help, but Dan has no feet, so that’s ultimately of no help to him. His neighbors would think him insane, if not weird, for having a damn mermaid in his car, and he’s not willing to explain his blatant crime to them at 4 o’clock in the morning.

He could call Suzy. But how the hell would he explain this to Suzy? “Hey, I kidnapped a mermaid, but it’s not a kidnapping exactly. I need help bringing him inside my house before my neighbors see?” That would sound so terrible, but the whole story is so hard to explain over the phone.

He could carry Dan inside, but he would have to fill his bathtub first, and that would mean Dan had very little water to move in until the damn thing filled. But then again, this pool probably held less than his bath would in about ten seconds.

That would prove to be, ultimately, the more logical answer. Arin clears his throat. “I could possibly carry you, if you’re okay with that?”

“Carry me?” Dan asked. “Like… how?”

“Bridal-style is probably easiest.”

Dan blinked at him, even more confused. Bridal-style? What the hell is that?

“I… here. May I?”

Dan answered yes before he could register that he even did- and in less than a second, Arin had one arm gently behind his back, mindful of his scars, and one arm under his tail, right where it bends down the center. He pulled Dan to his chest, and kicked the door shut. It wasn’t as loud this time, somehow.

Arin was very warm. Not like the tank he had.

Arin carried Dan up the stairs, into the front door of his house- apartment is a better word, but it’s bigger than a normal one-room, and less noisy- and into the master bathroom.

Arin sits Dan gently into the tub, which is large and egg-shaped. It could, possibly, hold water that goes right up to Dan’s chin, if he really tried hard enough to keep the water in and not let it splash.

“It’s gonna be cold, but that’s my water heater’s fault, not mine,” Arin blames. “Let me know if it gets too hot.”

Dan nodded, watching as Arin turned the bulb-shaped knob in the direction of the red line drawn onto it. Water began spewing out of it, causing a sudden whistle, and Dan jumped again. Arin widened his eyes from the shock of both noises.

“Fuck- sorry! I forgot my pipe was all… fuck-y. The thing’s been whistling like a bitch.”

The mermaid shook his head, sinking into the shallows of the bathtub and closing his eyes. He hummed happily, content in the water.

It wasn’t at all a wide tub, but it was bigger than his tank, so that was something.

“I’m sorry it’s nothing extravagant,” Arin stated, rubbing his neck. “I’m poor.”

“No, no,” Dan argued. “This is nice. I like it.”

Arin watched the water fill, making sure the drainage block was securely in its place, and the water wasn’t too hot, before sighing. “I think I should go get that pool. I doubt me leaving it in there with water would be beneficial at all.”

Dan sat up straighter, looking to Arin. “Yeah, that might be helpful.”

“Do you mind if I run downstairs and get it? I understand if you don’t want me to, like, leave you here.”

“I don’t mind, honest. Go do whatever you need to, Arin.”

Arin realized this may be… what, the second time Dan has said his name? How many times have they said each others’ names at all?

He just opted to nod, instead of saying anything, and he left. As he fumbled down the stairs, moving back to his car, he slowly realized that… well, this is his life now.

But it can’t be that hard, right? He’s helping someone who needs it.

Yeah.

Someone who needs it.


	7. Seventh.

The amount of time that it took between hitting the small “call” button, and the first dial tone, was almost agonizing.

In reality, it was only a few seconds. But Arin couldn’t help but already have his nails between his teeth, leaning against the wall outside his bedroom, listening to Dan hum and fumble about in the water a few rooms away from him.

Suzy picked up fairly immediately, despite it being early in the morning.

“Arin..? You doin’ okay, bud?”

“Suzy, hey,” he came on, a bit too strong. He could feel the anxiety in his OWN voice, and it no doubt read into Suzy’s end. He could hear her flick her lamp on.

“Arin? What’s going on?”

“I, uh… I can’t come into work today.”

Shit. Well, that’s… not helping him.

“Why not? Are you sick? Did something happen back home?”

“No, no! No, nothing like that. I just… something’s come up, is all.”

“Such as..?” Suzy dragged out the “as”, giving a hint of suspicion in her tone that only Arin really recognized. He gulped.

“I, uh… um… I have a friend over.”

Suzy hums. “A friend? Is it that Jason guy you were talking about last week?”

“No, he’s still in London. It’s a… friend who needed some help.”

It went silent for a minute, and Arin held his breath. He prayed that Suzy would believe him- he wasn’t actually lying, but he didn’t have the energy to explain the whole situation from the top. Maybe tonight, perhaps, over a few stiff drinks, some fresh-made food. Maybe he could invite his coworkers over and explain the whole ordeal. They all deserve to know, not just his best friend, in case this-

“Arin? Are you listening to me?”

“Huh? What?” he nearly-exclaimed, barely able to keep from sounding startled. Suzy chuckled faintly.

“I said, do you need any help with anything? And what’s his name? Is he someone I know?”

“A… a little, in a way. You’ve heard of him. Daniel.”

“Daniel… doesn’t ring a bell. Maybe if I saw him?”

“Yeah, definitely if you saw him,” Arin adds. “And no, I don’t need any help. Not right now. I’ll call you again when it’s not fuckin’... witching hour.”

Suzy snorts. “Please. You’re bothering my cats.”

Arin groans, playfully. “Oh, no! What a shame that Otto’s rubbing his ass all over your sheets.”

“I just washed them!” Suzy exclaims. “Otto! No! Arin isn’t here, bud!”

“Yes, Otto! She’s lying! Free me from my iPhone-shaped hell!”

They both laugh, Suzy nearly to where she’s snorting, before they both sigh. “G’night, Arin. Call me if you need me.”

“Okay. Night, Scuze.”

_Beep._

Arin sat his phone down. He sighed, ready to curl up into bed and sleep, when he heard Dan wince in the other room.

“Ow! Shit…”

Arin rushed in quickly, sliding slightly, as he looks to Dan to make sure he’s okay. Dan was sitting up, holding a spot on his back and looking to his fingers like he was expecting to see blood.

“You alright?” Arin asked, a bit too worried to know what to say or do, or to move out of his position. He almost resembled an artist’s mannequin, frozen in time, without so much as a twitch to give him life except for his words.

Dan groaned. “Yeah, I… shit. I just hit my back.”

He turned off the faucet. By now, the water was up to Dan’s collarbone, just about to the top of the bathtub but with enough space to keep it from spilling over the edge. Arin couldn’t complain. Dan knew when he was comfortable.

“Do you need anything to go on it?” Arin asked, moving closer. He looked down Dan’s back, and knew good and well he needed ointments and creams and bandages, but he figured it would go over better if Dan agreed with him on that.

“I might. I’m not sure what would, though.”

“Uh… maybe some ointments? Some alcohol wipes, maybe? I might need to, like… Google it.”

“Google?”

Arin sighed hard, realizing suddenly how big of a deal this was going to be.

He was in for the long haul, now, and he had to make do how he could.

\-----

Arin was gentle, as gentle as he could be, as he ran a washcloth down each new wound. 

The scars couldn’t be helped, so Arin didn’t pretend they could be; he simply washed over reddened or infected wounds, dripping medicine onto the cloth and allowing it to seep in between Dan’s flesh so it would be promptly disinfected. Each time Dan would wince or flinch, Dan would cry- Arin made sure to do what he could to keep him comfortable, and make him feel safe. He was worried Dan would begin to associate him with pain, too.

“I-I’m sorry. I know it burns, but I have to clean these,” Arin explained for perhaps the third time already. Dan nodded, albeit stiffly.

“I know, I- ow, ow, ow!”

Arin reeled his arm away, looking at this particular wound. He grabbed the needle of the edge of the tub and began to stitch it up, sighing.

“More stitches, incoming,” he warned.

“G-gotcha.”

“Hey, how about you try to talk to me? Maybe that’ll distract you from the uh… the pain.”

He hadn’t yet moved in the needle, despite knowing he should. He wanted Dan to be prepared.

“I… I can try?” Dan offers. “It won’t… I don’t have much to talk about.”

“Well… talk to me about your home. Like, your family and friends. Is that okay to talk about?”

Arin didn’t want to tread too harshly on the subject- maybe he was orphaned, abandoned, abused. But Dan just smiled.

“I-I can do that. My father, Avi…”

Arin gently threaded the needle into his wound, and Dan didn’t even flinch.


End file.
